Dominique Cain

Research 2

Waiting for Superman Discussion Questions

1) What role do high expectations of parents and of school staff play in student success?

a. Low expectations on the part of school staff have been correlated with poor student academic outcomes and vice versa: high expectationswith the support necessary to meet themdirectly relate to positive academic outcomes. Schools which establish high expectations for all youthand give them the support necessary to achieve themhave high rates of academic success. These schools also have lower rates of problem behaviors such as dropping out, alcohol and other drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and delinquency than other schools. Conveying positive and high expectations in a classroom and school environment occurs at several levels. Parents, guardians, and other adults who care for individual students play a role in conveying high expectations for goal setting, rigorous study, and for allocating additional homework time when learning is difficult. High standards help students develop self-confidence. Self-efficacy is a critical component of developing one's identity and sense of selfthe major developmental task of the adolescent years. If a large percentage of students do not score high in the asset of self-efficacy, this may indicate the prevalence of low expectations in a specific school.

2) How does the physical environment affect school climate and student achievement? What responsibility do we have to provide students with clean, safe schools that are not overcrowded?

a. The most obvious and powerful is at the belief level, where the teacher and other school staff communicate the message that the student has everything he or she needs to be successful. Schools also communicate expectations in the way they are structured and organized. The curriculum and environment that supports resilience respects the way humans learn. Such a curriculum and environment is thematic to the cohesive ideal of having an excelling school. I believe it is not only the parents, and the communitys job, but also the governments to provide schools that are safe, clean, and in well condition if we want a fostering environment for the future of America.

3) What do you think would be the impact of sending more money to provide all students with preschool, longer school days or universal college-preparatory classes? How might this change the so-called cradle-to-prison pipeline?

a. The obvious is more government spending and maybe higher taxes or just a movement for more money that is devoted to education for people who are in school rather than for people who ae in jail. However, the impact could be very beneficial. Since education for youth is such a critical component in developing a future prosperous environment, why not invest more into it. For example, effective preschool education can help make all children ready to learn the day they start school and, more importantly, help close the enormous gap facing children in poverty. Preschool education can perform miracles. Children who attend prekindergarten programs have bigger vocabularies and increased math skills, know more letters and more letter-sound associations, and are more familiar with words and book concepts and this is common knowledge. And at any rate preschool cannot be compared to advanced babysitting for busy parents. Kids also practice many key components of the school day, including the importance of routine. That's key for early learners. They understand carpet time, clean-up procedures, how to share crayons, or even getting their pants on and off without the teacher's help; that's big. Little kids have only a certain amount of active working memory. If a large portion of their brain is figuring out what they're going to do next, there's less room there to spend on learning. Thus in conclusion children need things like preschool to foster than environment and to enhance learning when they are in bigger environments. Things of this nature may slow down or even stop the cradle-to-prison pipeline.

4) What do families and communities lose when students have to travel outside their neighborhood to attend a great school? What do we gain by providing families with high-quality public school choices in their immediate neighborhood?

a. The idea of choosing a school outside ones specific neighborhood has too often been romanticized over the years. School choice and market theory in education seem to be a solution many districts are forced to provide. If they do not provide this, families can (and do) opt to leave the district and, on a large scale, can a significant impact on the financial wellbeing of the district. To provide what some families want, many districts have created specialized schools and academies to try to attract students (and beat out other schools/districts in the competition for students). By doing this, neighborhood schools often lose students and staff with strengths in certain areas. For example, if we have a school that specialized in music education, they will attract many students and teachers with strengths in music. How does this impact the music programs in other schools? How does this impact the music education of the students who cannot access the specialized school? If we have a school that specializes in trades and it attracts those with interests in trades, how does this impact the trades programs of our neighborhood schools? There are some that state that providing school choice is a key strategy to better meet the needs of all learners as they can access more specialized programs and become more engaged as their education will be tied more to their interests. However, when we look beyond the surface, if not ALL students can be provided with this access, how does this impact our neighborhood schools? Do our community schools become schools for those who do not choose other schools or for those who cannot access the programs at other schools? Can we do both? Can we have specialized programs in some schools AND maintain effective options for students within our neighborhood schools? The more we take away from our neighborhood schools, the more the communities lack in beneficial educational components.